3 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE SmackDown (July 22)

5. That Repeated Chopfest

Gunther Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

Hmm.

Yours truly isn't too keen on seeing Shinsuke Nakamura drop matches before challenging for the Intercontinental Title at SummerSlam. That match hasn't been made official yet, but it's surely incoming and would be a real credit to the pay-per-view's undercard.

This week, WWE went 50/50 on things and had Shin lose to Ludwig Kaiser when Gunther interfered. Afterwards, the reigning IC Champ reprimanded his pal for needing help, then chopped the living sh*te out of his chest yet again. WWE typically goes the split route after booking stories like this, and nobody needs to see that happen already.

Despite having chemistry, Naka and Kaiser were knackered by the need to pull ye olde proverbial rug out from underneath the babyface and by Gunther hitting the repeat button on those chops. It just feels like they could squeeze more out of this story.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.